The Wall › Panel 42E › New York › Richard Earl Beckwith
RICHARD EARL BECKWITH
Specialist Four · U.S. Army
October 28, 1941 – February 29, 1968
Service recordRichard Earl Beckwith, of Buffalo, New York, served as a Specialist Four in the U.S. Army. He died on February 29, 1968, in Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam, at age 26. His name is inscribed on Panel 42E, Line 2 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 42E · Line 2
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Specialist Four (SP4)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Postal Clerk (71F)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 1 LOGISTIC CMD
- Born
- October 28, 1941
- Home of record
- Buffalo, New York (Erie County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- February 29, 1968
- Age
- 26
- Province
- Thua Thien
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
52 names on the Wall carry the date February 29, 1968; 13 of them were lost in Thừa Thiên Province. In February 1968, 2,260 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The unit recorded as “1 LOGISTIC CMD”, his unit in the record, lost 30 of its members that month.
He died in Thừa Thiên Province while the Battle of Huế was under way. At Huế (31 January–2 March 1968), Marines, soldiers of the 1st Cavalry and 101st Airborne divisions and South Vietnamese troops fought house to house for 26 days to retake the old imperial capital, the longest urban battle of the war. The casualty record gives the province and date, not the exact place, so it does not say whether he fell in the battle itself.
Also on Panel 42E, Line 2
- JOHN PAUL TOTHSergeant · February 28, 1968
- DONALD CHARLES BENNETT JRPrivate First Class · February 29, 1968
- GERALD CERVANTESSergeant · February 29, 1968
- JAMES FRANCIS COLEMANSergeant · February 29, 1968
Same unit, same day
- VICTOR DICAVALLUCCISecond Lieutenant · Panel 42E, Line 3
- EDWARD J KAMINSKISergeant First Class · Panel 42E, Line 6
From Buffalo
- RICHARD MARION SROKACaptain · July 13, 1964
- KENNETH DAVID STANKIEWICZLance Corporal · August 18, 1965
- THEODORE ROOSEVELT CHAMBLEYStaff Sergeant · October 16, 1965
- HENRY JOHN PAWLICK JRSpecialist Four · November 7, 1965
- THOMAS GEORGE HENSONSpecialist Four · November 12, 1965
- WILBUR CURRY JRStaff Sergeant · November 15, 1965
- RICHARD P CORSONPrivate First Class · March 4, 1966
- HENRY JAMES DOSTERCorporal · March 5, 1966
- DUANE KENNETH HEISERPrivate First Class · March 15, 1966
- MICHAEL KELLY MCGUIREAirman · February 16, 1966
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.